Growth Spurts
by DayDreamsAndStarLights
Summary: Pt 2 of Life Lessons. Tony and Steve have done some growing up, but there's still a ways to go before these two sort themselves out, and things are about to get a lot more complicated.
1. Tick- Tock

A/N: I'm So sorry for the wait, I've been dealing with some stuff and it has been one hell of stressful time. Postings will hopefully occur regularly, this work has gone through four different rewrites and well, here we are!

Warnings; course language, sexual situations, mentions of drug use, and underage alcohol consumption.

 **Chapter 1: Tick-Tock.**

Steve sighed dejectedly as the phone continued to ring in his ear, this had to have been the fourth time he's called today and Tony still wasn't answering his phone.

A beep and then "your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice messaging system, _the master of your universe_ , is not available, at the tone please leave a message"

Steve sighed again "Hey Tony, it's me again, for the fourth time, listen for a second; I really miss you. We haven't seen each other since the end of August and I can't even remember the last time we had a conversation that lasted more than two minutes. I'm starting to get a little antsy here, give me a call back please? I love you."

Steve hung up his cell phone and placed the unobtrusive device on his bedside table, he still lived at home commuting to NYU where he majored in art and illustration, the fact that he didn't have to pay for a dorm helped out with cost, most of his savings going to his tuition and supplies.

It was honestly insane, Steve pondered laying back on his bed with another sigh, Tony was only a bus ride away from where he was attending MIT, and it was starting to get a little ridiculous that they saw each other more when Tony was halfway across the country in California rather than four hours.

Steve rolled onto his side looking at his phone with vague hopefulness, the last time he had spoken to Tony was three days ago, when Tony had called with exciting news that he'd be able to graduate a year early, having tested out of most of the required classes.

The phone sat silent; the screen blank on the table, causing another sigh to drift from Steve's barely parted lips, he got the busy schedule, really he understood, Tony was fast tracking to early graduation his work load would be immense.

Steve himself was already buried under a ton of projects and essays, his bedroom scattered with half formed ideas and concepts on paper littered around the room. His sketchbook lay open on his bed by his feet, a few top quality charcoal pencils atop the high grade sketch book; both had been birthday gifts from Tony.

Well actually, Tony had given him a gift card for an art store for his birthday and told him he didn't know shit about actual art supplies as he did most of his designing digitally, and to get himself something.

Sure, the gift was a little impersonal, but then Tony really didn't know much about art, and the amount on the card had been generous, Steve still had more than half of the remaining balance left over, planning on putting it towards his supplies when he would need to reload on them.

"Steve?" Steve sat up, looking to the open door where his mother stood, a basket of folded laundry balanced on her hip, "is everything alright?" Sarah Rogers was a beautiful woman, strong and confident, with sunshine hair barely turning grey and laugh lines at the corners of her mouth, showing her sense of humour and good nature.

"Hey Ma," Steve breathed moving to stand to his feet; he loved his mother very much, always appreciating how hard she worked to keep them afloat. It hadn't been easy when his father passed away, but Sarah was a tough woman, and she was a very loving person, accepting Tony with open arms and an open mind. It had honestly stunned Steve at how well his mother and his boyfriend got along; they shared a love of music and bonded immediately over it.

"Do you need some help?" Steve asked, nodding his head towards the basket in his mother's arms, Sarah shook her head, "answer the question mister" her voice held a teasing tone, knowing her son well enough that she'd have to drag what was bothering him out of him tooth and nail, Steve disliked talking about his problems, preferring to deal with them himself.

"It's nothing Ma, just…it's stupid." Sarah hummed, "I noticed Tony hasn't been around the last few weeks" she commented knowingly, Steve gaped, "it's scary how you do that" he finally said, Sarah laughed softly, "Steve, I'm your mother honey, it's my job to know these things, and you miss him."

The unasked question floated in the air around them, "we didn't have a fight or anything" he began, knowing that's what his mother suspected, "he's on a fast track to early graduation and he's been insanely busy with extra work and we haven't really spoken all that much lately."

Steve ran a hand through his hair, messing it up more than the pillow had, "I find it odd that we saw and spoke to each other more when we lived in different states, now he's barely a few hours away, living in an apartment his family owns, we're a mere bus ride away from each other and we don't even cross paths!"

Sarah nodded, leaning against the door frame, "well Steve, high school is easier than college sweetie, sometimes you have to put things into perspective, now is the time you work hard to have a good life, and that puts a strain on any relationship, you just have to bear with it for a bit, once it's over imagine all the time you two will have, and thanksgiving is coming up very soon and he's already agreed to spend it here with us. Steve, you just need to have a little patience honey, and remember how much Tony loves you, and things will work themselves out."

Steve opened his mouth to respond, but at that moment his phone lit up with a picture of him and Tony taken on their two year anniversary, AC/DC's you shook me all night long playing. That hadn't been his choice, Tony had gotten a hold of his phone and set that as his ringtone, the phone was still new and Steve hadn't figured out how to change it yet, not that he wanted too, the song had grown on him.

Steve cast his mother an apologetic look, to which she simply smiled and said "I'll leave you to it" before shutting his bedroom door, her soft steps sounding down the hallway to the living room of their small two bedroom apartment.

"Hey you" Steve said answering the phone, "Steve!" Tony sounded breathless and exhilarated, there was a ton of background noise, and he was barely able to hear Tony over it. There were people chattering loudly and music pumping was Tony at a party? It was a Friday night, but Steve liked to believe that Tony had been busy with work than partying.

"Where are you?" he asked loudly, frowning as the sound of Tony pushing past people echoed out the receiver, "at a common room party" Tony's breathless voice answered, Steve frowned deeper. "So this entire time I've been calling you, you've been at a party?"

There was a sudden silence; Tony must have left the party, "what's with the tone?" Tony asked, the sound of his shuffling steps sounded, must be walking back to his apartment, Tony didn't live far from the campus, barely a 15 minute walk.

"What tone? There's no tone" Steve denied, trying to hide the irritation he felt, "Steve, we've been together too long for you to try and lie to me, you're obviously pissed, why?"

"Why? Well maybe because we haven't seen one another in weeks, this is the first time I've heard your voice in three days without it being you saying 'the master of your universe' on your voice mail, I thought you were busy with school stuff, at least too busy to pick up your phone when I call, but turns out you're not picking up my calls because you're at a party!"

There was a nearly stunned silence on the other end, "okay wow, have a bit of pent up frustration there, I wasn't at this party all day you know, and I didn't answer the phone because it's been on silent, I've been in lectures since eight am this morning, and the only reason I was even near this party was because I was selling one of my textbooks from last year to someone and she lives on that floor, in fact I wasn't actually attending the party, I was passing through it. So I can't say I'm fond of the accusation you're making right now."

Steve sucked in a trembling breath, "what was I supposed to think Tony? You didn't answer my calls all day, and when you finally do you're at a party"

"Steve, if I had time to party, I would have time to get on a bus and come see you, why are you so angry?" Tony asked, genuinely confused at the sudden anger Steve was directing towards him.

Steve shifted, starting to pace the small expense of his bedroom, "I'm angry because I miss you, and it definitely doesn't sound like you're missing me, you're so caught up in everything over there, it's like you forget I'm here waiting for a simple thing like a returned phone call, or even a damn text message!"

There was a stunned silence as Tony took in his words, he took a deep breath and choked out "Why would you even say shit like that? You think that I don't miss you or think about you every day? This is important Steve; I can get out of here a year early and do something with myself."

Steve groaned and dropped heavily onto his bed, "I understand that, I do, but Tony, you're taking too much on and I can't understand why it's a struggle just to talk to you these days, it's barely two months into the semester and you feel like a stranger to me, we didn't have this problem when you were in Malibu, why can't you come up this weekend? Or let me come down there?"

"I told you Steve, I have a major paper due Monday and I haven't even started work on it yet,"

Steve sighed frustrated, "that, right there, sounds like an excuse. You're a genius Tony; you can probably finish that paper in just over an hour and then what?"

"And then I can call you and we can meet up" he said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "and I'm supposed to just sit here and wait for you to call?" He heard Tony groan over the phone, "You don't have to sit around waiting for me Steve, see what Bucky's up too, or go see a movie with Thor, they both attend NYU right?"

"I don't want to see Bucky or Thor, I want to see you, and it feels like you're putting everything else above us!"

"Okay you know what, I'm not looking to fight, so don't start one, I've had a long and exhausting day, I have two weeks' worth of laundry to do, and I have work at the café Sunday, so I'm sorry if it feels like I'm too busy for you, maybe I am, but that doesn't mean it affects me any less."

There was a moment of silence, Tony having stopped walking, "Steve, you mean everything to me, that's the honest truth, and sure I can admit that I haven't devoted the amount of time I should to you, but I told you that my life will be unbelievably hectic when they gave me the chance of fast tracking, I have three extra classes a week to make sure I get all my credits, I have to work, I have other responsibilities on top of that, what do you want me to do here?"

"I want you to consider not fast tracking, why do you even want to do that? What's wrong with graduating next year instead of this year?" He answered, clutching his phone tightly.

"So you want me to give up an opportunity to take over S.I faster, to get all these wonderful ideas in my head out into the world, because you can't handle periods of silence, which I told you would be a possibility?"

Steve moaned tiredly, "Tony, don't make me sound like the selfish one here, those ideas aren't going to disappear in a year or two years' time, you probably have them written down somewhere, why can't you just wait?"

"Okay so now I'm the selfish one for wanting to finish school earlier than I should be, for wanting to put myself out there and do things that I can be proud of?" Tony's voice had gone hard and cold.

"You're turning this around! This isn't about me not wanting you to do those things, this about wondering why I can't spend any time with my boyfriend, and me missing you so much it hurts! It kills me Tony, and that's what I can't deal with! Throw me a bone every now and then and let me know you're still aware of my existence!"

The silence was deafening, "I'm aware of it Steve," Tony responded softly, "I've been aware of it since seventh grade, I'm not forgetting about you, I never could. Think about how it feels to hear from someone you've felt for the way I've felt for you, for as long as I have. I will never forget you Steve, and if you think I am, maybe the problem is not with me and my work load, maybe it's you. I love you Steve, try to remember that the next time you don't hear from me for a few days."

A dial tone told Steve that Tony had hung up, Steve stood up, changing into his running clothes; he left his bedroom, a whole myriad of thoughts swirling in his head, body thrumming with emotion, equal parts apologetic and hurt, and angry, and lonely.

His mother gave him a concerned look from where she sat on the worn out couch as he stalked by on his way out of the apartment, "now we had a fight" Steve said, putting his shoes on, "I'm going for a run" he told her turning around and opening the front door, "be safe" she called after him, watching the door shut and listening to him walk speedily down the hall.

—

A/N so yea, this shit just happened.


	2. Calling Dr Honey Bear

A/N: Going to try and keep updates at a steady pace, but may not be able too. Also, some of you may really hate what's going to happen in later chapters...SORRY!

 **Chapter 2: Calling Dr. Honey Bear.**

Monday morning found Tony grunting as he heaved a piece of machinery for the project that he and Rhodey were currently building, into place, "I really hate the heavy lifting part," Tony whined holding the metal sheet in place as Rhodey secured it with a few screws.

"I told you I'd lift but nope, you had to be the stubborn shit you are and do it yourself." Rhodey laughed, taking just a few extra seconds longer to screw in the last bolt. "I fucking hate you right now" Tony deadpanned as Rhodey grinned up at his friend cheekily.

Rhodey had shot up in height, standing just less than six feet, he filled out more, while Tony had grown from his measly 5,4 to what they knew was his final height of 5,10. He'd also cut his hair, though it still resembled something of a messy shag.

"So what's up man, you seem off today?" Rhodey commented, standing up and replacing the power tool on the work table watching Tony curiously as the other man stepped back from their project.

"Steve and I had a fight Friday night" Tony finally admitted after several long minutes of silence spent inspecting their work, "that bad?" Rhodey asked a sympathetic look on his face.

Tony sighed removing his work gloves and working out the kinks in his fingers from gripping small tools for too long, "he thinks I'm neglecting him in favor of school and other stuff."

"Are you?" Rhodey asked, following his friend's example and discarding the thick gloves encasing his own hands, "I personally don't feel that I am, sure I'm busy, and okay fine I haven't been able to have a proper conversation with him in a while, and as much as it sounds like I'm using it as an excuse, this chance to graduate early is perfect, it's exactly what I need, there's so much I can do and accomplish once I'm out of here, and the opportunity to get out a year early is too good to pass up!"

Rhodey eyed his friend wearily, "Tony I love you man, I always have and always will, you're like a brother to me, but dude, stop and think for a second; maybe Steve's justified in the way he feels, I mean if you can't pick up the phone to call him every other day or hell every few days, than that should be a sign you're putting too much effort into only one aspect of your life."

Rhodey held his breath, aware that Tony may not necessarily take that bit of wisdom well, "I'm just saying" Rhodey continued slowly, "you got to be able to balance man, there are some things more important than others, but you should be putting the same dedication into more than just one of them, you and Steve have a good thing going on, and let's be honest here; school work, not a challenge for you. You're a certified genius Tones, you can read an entire textbook and remember every important bit of information in under four hours. I'm just thinking, you know; graduation will still happen whether this year or next year, Steve… he may not be around next year."

Tony didn't respond, just stood leaning against the work table, staring off into space, the only indication that he was listening to Rhodey at all was the thoughtful expression on his face. "So you think he'll break up with me if I don't give him the time of day?" Tony asked softly.

Rhodey shook his head gently, "what I'm saying is; people, especially those in established relationships, want to know they're loved and even missed, and it kind of sounds like you can get along just fine without Steve and maybe he's picking up on that and it's making him feel insecure."

Tony snorted, "he did say I should throw him a bone every once in a while and let him know I remember that he exists."

Rhodey nodded, "exactly, you and Steve saw each other surprisingly often back when we were out in Cali, and you talked a lot when you didn't see each other, now that you guys are barely a few hours apart you don't see each other and you don't talk. See the problem here?"

Tony sighed rolling his shoulders and making a contented sound at the pop of his joints, "I see the problem; I should probably call him shouldn't I?"

Rhodey laughed, "Gee, you think?" Tony picked up one of his discarded gloves and threw it at Rhodey, "I hear that sarcasm jerk-wad." Rhodey laughed harder, "man I never thought the day would come where I'd be giving you relationship advice."

Tony rolled his eyes, "well you're good at it, I should start calling you Dr. Rhodes" Rhodey winced, "please don't man" Tony laughed moving to gather his stuff, they were out of time in the lab anyway.

Rhodey swiftly moved to help Tony put away their project, "so you're going to call him?" Tony nodded, putting away the last of the tools they'd used.

"Yes I am going to call him" he answered, Rhodey frowned, "right now" Tony blinked in mild suprise, "what?" Rhodey jerked his head to Tony's pocket where his phone was.

"Call him right now, don't wait, the longer you wait the worse it may be." Tony frowned, "okay fine" he relented digging his phone out of his pocket and dialling Steve's number.

The phone rang for a few beats, Tony idly aware of Rhodey slowly shifting to the other side of the room, an attempt to give Tony some privacy.

The phone continued to ring, making Tony frown, "he's not answering" he called out to Rhodey, and it was odd that Steve wasn't answering, Steve didn't have class Mondays, and he didn't work until the afternoon.

"Well hold up, he may have picked up an early shift, or taken an extra class" Rhodey called, "just wait a few minutes and try again, if he doesn't answer the second time, assume he's working and call him later tonight, but make sure you call him today!" He ordered, waving bye and leaving the lab.

Tony sighed rubbing his face tiredly with his hand, a few minutes later he called the number again, listening as the phone rang and rang until the answering machine picked up. "One more time" Tony muttered, waiting another five minutes before calling for a third time.

The answering machine was three rings away from picking up, don't snap don't snap, Tony thought vigorously, he couldn't help but feel like Steve wasn't answering his phone on purpose to make Tony see what it felt like to be ignored.

A beep and Steve's voice filtering through the line saying " _you've reached Steve Rogers, sorry I missed your call, leave a message and I'll get back to you_ " Tony rolled his eyes affectionately at the polite answering message.

"Hey babe, it's me. So we should talk, I probably shouldn't have led with that-" Tony laughed a little nervously, "- not a bad talk, just talk. So yea, give me a call back when you can, I'm free all afternoon, my advanced robotics class got cancelled, so…just call me back, love you."

Tony hung up the phone and with a small sigh left the lab, pocketing his phone as he went, Rhodey still had another class to attend too, but Tony's schedule was free for the rest of the day.

With nothing better to do he headed home and began getting a head start on some of his other projects, bitterly ignoring the small part of him that viciously pointed out that Rhodey was right, school work wasn't really much of a challenge for him so why couldn't he give Steve a call every now and then?

It was nearing dinner time when his phone finally rang, he dropped his drafting pencil and dived for the small ringing device.

"Hello!" he answered a tad breathlessly, "Hey" Steve's voice answered, a sullen tone to the normally vibrant voice, Tony found himself smiling, he really didn't see how much he missed Steve until now. "Hey yourself" he teased, moving to settle on the couch as Steve's chuckles echoed in his ears.

A/N: Well it looks like our boys are going to have a mature talk, let's hope for the best!


	3. Stress Induced

A/N: So much drama.

 **Chapter 3: Stress Induced.**

"So what are you up too?" Tony asked, lounging back on his couch, there was a brief sound of rustling papers, "nothing really" Steve answered, the sound of his mattress creaking as he sat on it, he really needed to get a new bed, Tony mused, Steve's mattress made a hell of a lot of noise.

Tony couldn't stop the swift burst of arousal caused by the memories of how much noise Steve's bed really made. "I just got home from work and I have a composition to finish before Wednesday" well that certainly was a mood killer.

Tony laughed, "sorry" he muttered at the confused silence on Steve's end, "I just had a dirty thought about your bed and the amount of squeaking noises it makes and then you said that and it made me laugh."

Steve chuckled, "Tony, I'm sorry" Tony blinked, surprised at the apology, "I got a little worked up Friday and I took it out on you."

Tony shook his head, and then realized Steve couldn't see it, "no, you had every right to be angry, I'm aware of how it sounded to you, Fridays aren't really a good day for me either."

Tony took a deep breath, "I'm the one that should be apologizing Steve, I love you and I haven't been doing anything to really show that recently, I'm just so caught up in school and wanting to graduate early, and I sometimes forget what else is important. You're important Steve, so important to me and I don't want to jeopardize that with my stupidity."

Steve laughed a shaking sound, "you're not stupid Tony, far from it" Tony shrugged to himself, "well I certainly feel stupid, it took Rhodey to make me see your point of view, I should've been able to tell for myself what the problem was."

Steve frowned, "you spoke to Rhodey about us?" Tony halted; a little surprised at the displeased tone in Steve's voice, "well yea, the guy's my best friend," he began slowly, feeling like he was treading into shark infested waters.

"You didn't vent to anyone about this?" Tony asked surprised, Steve huffed out an irritated breath, "of course not, it's our relationship, not anybody else's. I don't see why I should concern people with things that aren't any of their business."

Tony frowned hard, "and venting? Is that what you did, you vented?" Tony gaped a little, "not exactly, he asked what was wrong and I told him that we got into a fight and that you felt I was neglecting you, he gave me some advice, that's all."

Steve laughed sardonically, "so now you need to get advice from someone else than talking to me about our issues" Tony sucked in a deep breath, feeling another fight coming on.

"Steve, everybody needs a little advice from time to time, and it's not like I told him heavily detailed things, it's not like I describe our bedroom lives to him."

Steve snorted, "it honestly wouldn't have surprise me if you did" Tony paused, mouth opening and closing a few times, "I have no idea what that is supposed to mean, what are you trying to say there?"

"I'm saying that you're not exactly subtle about our… sex life, sometimes you have no filter between your brain and your mouth and you say whatever you think and it's not always a good thing."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up a moment there," Tony sat up straight, "I wasn't even the one who gave away when we first started sleeping together, that was you!"

"Granted, but that doesn't change the fact that you say things you shouldn't say" Steve countered, "oh my... how did we go from apologies, to this?!" Tony demanded, throwing a hand in the air.

"Look, it's just bothering me that you can talk to Rhodey about us, but you can't talk to me about us" Steve responded, he was pacing now; Tony recognized the creak in a certain floor board as Steve passed over it several times.

"What am I doing right now?" Tony asked, "I'm talking too you, about us, and now you've gone and turned it into a fucking argument!"

"Don't pin this on me" Steve's voice was low and harsh, "why not? It's your fault, we were fine until you got your stars and stripes underwear into a twist because I got some very mild relationship advice from my best friend, who I've known and trusted a lot longer than you!"

Tony winced as soon as the words left his mouth, a part of him knowing that wasn't the right thing to say, "So what, you can't trust me?" Steve asked voice void of emotion.

"I didn't mean it like that, and you know I didn't, but you also can't deny that we did not get off on the right track, we had to work our way up to where we are." Tony responded tiredly, "where are we?" Tony groaned at the question, "what do you mean where are we Steve? We're in love and in a relationship, and I don't understand why my talking to Rhodey is such a problem for you."

"Because he doesn't need to know what goes on between us! Tony, this is me and you, not me, you, everyone else and their grandmother!"

"This is a problem Steve; you don't know when to accept outside help when it's offered!"

Steve laughed harshly, "Me, having a problem accepting outside help? That is so rich coming from the guy who punched me in the face and gave me a black eye because I tried to help him when he was getting attacked in a hallway!"

"Hey!" Tony yelled, "I got over my issues about that, and bad form of you to bring it up over two years later!"

"Well bad form of you to accuse me of things we both now aren't true!" Steve yelled back, "Tony, you shouldn't be discussing our relationship with other people when I'm sitting here waiting for you to call."

"He offered insight Steve, for fuck's sake I'm not exactly a master of dating here, I've fucked three people including you and half ass dated one of them prior to us, Rhodey has more experience than me and helped me out, why is that such a problem?!"

"There you go, bringing up the sex!" Tony nearly threw his phone, "why is that what you're focusing on?!"

"Because that's all I seem to be good for" everything seemed to stop at once, "excuse me?" Tony asked lowly, "Tony anytime we get together immediately starts and ends in sleeping together, we don't do anything, we don't go out anymore, we barely talk all we do is roll around in the sheets, I'm not Mike."

The tears came hard and fast, and Tony took a few calming breaths, but couldn't hide the hitch that gave away his current state.

Steve sighed, "Shit" he muttered, "Tony I'm so-" "Don't" Tony cut him off, "don't you dare say you're sorry, it's obviously how you really feel."

Tony wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, attempting to erase the tears, "Mike and I had a very different situation than we do, I was never into Mike beyond the physical. You're different, I have loved you since meeting you in middle school, and not Steve Rogers, tall and rippling pecs, captain of the football team, but Steve Rogers, that dumb skinny frail kid that got his ass kicked more times than he did the ass kicking. You mean something to me Steve, it's not about the sex, it's the way you make me feel when you smile that half smile or leave me pictures that you drew, and it hurts that you think all you're good to me for is just sex."

Tony sniffled derisively, "I'm hot Steve, I know I am, if I wanted a booty call, I can get a booty call, doesn't matter if it's a guy or a girl, if I wanted to fuck, I can go out there and have them lining up for it. Clearly, that's what you think I should be doing, since you're so convinced that's what I want you for, makes no difference that I honestly, on everything I believe in, love you."

Tony exhaled a large puff of air, "this was me, making an effort to spend some time with you, and this was us back firing on each other, I'm done talking now, call me when you think we're worth more than just an orgasm."

Steve collapsed heavily on his bed as the dial tone persisted in his ears, he got carried away again, it was just so aggravating not being able to see the guy he loved dearly when he wanted too.


End file.
